SO… I haven’t blogged for ages, for a reason. I’ve said I was going to, however, internally I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I haven’t been ready, too much going on inside to verbalise it or record it electronically.

So Quiet… ( I was going to use silence but that would be lying)

Where to start, amazing term so far. The new people on board have been just ridiculous. It has been awesome having more energy, experiences and ideas buzzing around the place, not to mention the extra strums to drown out my ukulele misgivings.

Lots has gone on since my last blog. Lot’s of HARD WORK and most definitely lot’s of GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS… all of which I have summarised below…

1. Re-working the model. Having new staff on board has been really useful. An opportunity to put the model of our ‘Dispositional Curriculum’ out there. Even re-visiting again in this way, as well as being up-skilled on the other important areas of our school curriculum has helped us to revisit and re-work it; over and over and over again. What were we missing? Well, the Habits and Quadrants (as talked about in previous blogs) were crucial, however, the learner, the community and their well being must sit at the core of everything. And so saw the addition of Haoura and community to the centre of our model. They must be explicit, it is not good enough to assume that developing the wellbeing of the whole learner will happen. We need to put the framework and support in place to ensure it does.

2. Pastoral and Special Education Support. I have been lucky enough to be given time to look into the programmes, structures and support that will help us be responsive to our learners, whatever needs may arise. I have been out visiting SENCO’s at other schools such as Glen Eden Intermediate and Kelston Boys. The conclusion I have come to is that we must have the support in place to respond to our learners needs. A go to person with the connections, of course, but the focus must be on up-skilling our coaches and learning leaders, building capacity within staff as well as resourcing outwards when necessary. When I’m looking into this arena I am well and truly IN MY ZONE and loving it. The partnerships and connections being built with other schools and people are so valuable and I’m really looking forward to delving into this even deeper!

3. Building on my personal and academic excellence. We are in a unique situation, with a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-visit and re-jig education as we know it. Choice. However, easy is not a word I would use when describing this. The development of our Dispositional Curriculum has really allowed me to begin looking at my own ‘Habits’ and approaches to different situations. Learning to work with new groups of people, showing resilience when in situations of difficulty to me (e.g. academic reading) and learning how to manage my energy levels has been huge for me. I give my all to every task/session, that is exhausting. I emotionally and physically invest in every situation. That’s hard at times, I get exhausted. But above all, increasing confidence in my own abilities and expertise has been and will continue to be my main goal. I’m working on it. What an opportunity to do so. I should remind myself of this when I’m IN MY ZONE :).

So 5 weeks down, 4 to go. AAAAAGGGHHH. Surely we can decide on a model, framework and tools and adapt and modify it several times before the kids walk in the door? At the end of the day we’re going to be responsive, the framework will be in place, we’ll do what’s best for the kids, and if it’s not working we’ll continue to change it. We’re good at that.

In the words of the late Robert Nesta Marley… Empowerment and Agency – It’s what we’re about!